Code Name
by randomwriter9416
Summary: Set after "The Search for Whit." Jason Whittaker has the chance to explore the sites of the Holy Land. What he doesn't expect is an encounter that would change not only his life but his name. *I do not own the characters or show Adventures in Odyssey. This story was inspired by Accidental Dilemma and my own trip to Israel.


Jason Whittaker had been excited to see the sites of the Holy Land, but the Ford of Jabbok was disappointing. He walked up to the stream, its muddy state matching his mood. This was it? He had traveled thousands of miles to see a muddy river? Wasn't this supposed to be the place where the nation of Israel began, where God renewed His covenant with His people and where we see the beginnings of the Jews as God's nation? Jason had to stop and sit, his frustration growing. Why did this not seem significant? Wasn't this supposed to be some grand sight? Shouldn't there be fanfare or some kind of special feeling standing next to this spot? Where was God's voice? "It's only the exhaustion speaking," Jason thought to himself. But he knew it was more than that. They'd just experienced a "high" when Professor Charles and Alfred Bromley had followed them to the cave and they uncovered more 1st Century parchments with the same inscription as the one Dad had found earlier. That was a victory, so why did nothing since then seem significant?

Just as he was following this train of thought, a face popped into his mind: Tasha. That's what had him so out of sorts. Jason sighed. His hands cradled his head, fingers attempting to massage away the migraine that had been creeping in. They'd done so many missions together, and she knew things that happened that no one else knew, not even his father. There was a deep level of trust between them, a familiarity and comfort he thought he'd never find in his line of work. Everything seemed perfect except one thing: he was a Christian and she was not. They'd already been through the whole fiasco with Jack. They were moments away from a courthouse wedding, a shotgun decision that would have changed the trajectory of his entire life. As he told her the other day, he wanted to settle down in Odyssey and she wouldn't be satisfied with that. Tasha thought they could work it out, but Jason knew better. He knew that if she wanted nothing to do with God, then a relationship and their marriage would never be built on the right foundation and it would crumble around them.

It was in that still, quiet moment that he heard that small voice that was almost inaudible at first. _You're wrestling against me. _Wrestling? In his mind? _Yes_, he heard the voice call out to him again in his very soul. _You're wrestling, fighting me. Just like Jacob._

Jason sat very still for a moment, almost not believing the words he was hearing in his heart. _You're wrestling me_, the voice said again. Jason stopped and thought about the words he heard in his very soul, was he wrestling against God? What was the story of Jacob all about anyway? What significance did it hold for a 21st Century Christian like him? He looked up again at the stream, this time not settling on its muddy appearance. It wasn't the stream where he needed to focus, but rather on why the stream was important. He took out his Bible and began to read Genesis 32. Sure he knew the story; but reading it in the place where it happened, maybe that would make the difference in what he was feeling.

As he read, he noticed the interaction between Jacob and God in a different light. After Jacob and the man wrestled all night, the man asked Jacob's name and he gave it. Jacob, as Jason knew, meant "trickster" and here Jacob almost acknowledged who he was. But it was in that moment, after wrestling with God himself, that Jacob's name was changed. But then Jacob asked the man his name, and he never got an answer

Suddenly it hit Jason like a ton of bricks. This mental wrestling wasn't about Jason pinpointing God's reasoning for all this heartache in his life. It wasn't the broken relationship with Tasha, or attempting to find and establish a life in Odyssey among those he now considered his friends. No, it wasn't any of that; it was about God doing something in and through Jason.

At that moment, the muddy water didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was who God was making Jason, and then the site of the water became a most refreshing sight. Gone was his disappointment, and in its place was awe and wonder at the fact that God wanted to use him, the one who was broken and who constantly made a mess of things by jumping to conclusions.

Jason continued to sit on the bank of the river, this time praying instead of wrestling.

_God, you've brought me through so much, yet I've tried to wrestle against Your plan. I tried to make a marriage with Tasha make sense, even though I knew Your Word forbade it. I didn't handle things the best way when Blackgaard was in Odyssey. I ignored Jack's warnings and almost drove him away because of my arrogance and pride. God, forgive me for where I've failed, for times I've done the wrong thing or not done the right thing. Give me eyes to see the right way to follow You. Change me from the man I am into the man You want me to be._

At that moment, Jason knew his new code name. It meant something. It was a marker that God had changed him, just like God changed Jacob's name and established His nation. This name would remind Jason of this moment, helping him to keep this moment in mind. From now on, on any mission, he would be Jason Israel.


End file.
